New York City public schools on Tuesday began their first major experiment with distance learning since the coronavirus pandemic. More than 900,000 students were asked to participate in virtual classes during the winter storm.
It didn’t go well.
Many teachers, parents and students trying to log in found themselves locked out of their classrooms. Instead of joining their video meetings, they received an error message: “The service you are trying to reach is temporarily unavailable.”
“It seems like a very broad issue,” said Jay Brown, an elected parent leader in South Brooklyn who was trying to help his kids connect while trying to work from home.
He added: “I know this is a huge undertaking. But the readiness seems to be lacking.”
Mayor Eric Adams said the unrest will serve as a “teachable moment” for the city.
“Distance education will be with us for a while,” Mr Adams said. “The goal is to achieve perfection and there is a journey to achieve perfection.”
On social media, dozens of people described a chaotic morning that brought back their worst memories of education during the pandemic.
“Ultimate disaster,” Sam Green, who chose to take his 7-year-old son to McCarren Park to play in the snow, said in an interview. “I texted the teacher ‘Am I the only one having problems? And like, no, the whole system crashed, even the principal can’t get on.”
Students engaged in first-period classes with closed cameras, waiting for professors who were unable to connect. Some were only able to continue after repeatedly refreshing their websites. Others were kicked out of online meetings. As parents and teachers took on the role of makeshift tech support, several schools completely suspended meetings and classes until at least 10 a.m., unable to even attend.
One parent said that by 8:45 a.m., his family had already given up remote learning for the day, joining others who opted to call a full snow day.
By noon Tuesday, the school’s chancellor, David S. Banks, said about 850,000 students and teachers had been able to connect. (The system has about 915,000 children and 75,000 teachers.)
As the school day got under way, the Department for Education blamed the chaos on issues with services requiring authentication from technology firm IBM, which Mr Banks later said “wasn’t ready for the first time”.
“To say I’m disappointed, disappointed and angry is an understatement,” he added. “This was a test. I don’t think we passed that test.”
IBM did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The school system had tested distance learning earlier this winter, but Mr. Banks said the company was not involved in those simulations.
Some students and teachers were able to connect without any problems. Alan Cohen, a parent in Central Queens, had his children, who are in kindergarten and third grade, set up their devices Monday night — and they successfully entered their virtual rooms.
Their classmates were not so lucky: “In the beginning, there were three kids,” Mr Cohen said, adding that parents’ WhatsApp groups for the school and individual classes were “blowing up”.
“The idea that every child is going to be present in all of their classes, all day has gone out the window,” he said.
The city bought more than 550,000 iPads for children and 175,000 Chromebook laptops during the pandemic, and the era of distance learning that has begun has prompted many school districts across the country to abandon traditional holidays for the winter.
But Tuesday’s collapse was sure to trigger a wave of pushback in New York. Shekar Krishnan, a councilman who represents parts of northern Queens, wrote on social media that the administration “should have given them the damn snow day!”
Some schools not run by the Ministry of Education have done just that.
“It’s just an old-school snow day,” said Arthur Samuels, the founder of a charter high school in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood.
“Too many students have to look after younger siblings and we know how inferior distance education is,” Mr Samuels said on social media. “We will see them all in person tomorrow. Enjoy the snow!”
Olivia Bensimon contributed to the report.
